More details have been released out of Willows regarding Friday”s Amber Alert which led to the safe recovery of two children and the arrest of a Covelo man. The investigation also resulted in the arrest of the children”s grandmother the same day.

News update for March 16 at 3:30 p.m.: Leonard Tuttle provided information today to the Ukiah Daily Journal showing he is the father of the two children. This article will be updated as more information becomes available.

A California wide Amber Alert was issued by Willows Police Department at 12:09 p.m. March 9 asking for the public”s assistance in locating two girls aged 2 and 5 last seen in the company of Leonard Dale Tuttle Jr., 30, of Covelo. The description of Leonard and his white Mitsubishi Lancer, was broadcast on the police scanner and on electronic highway signs. The public and media then spread the word on the radio and on the internet, using Facebook, Twitter and web pages.

Tuttle was thought to be on his way to Covelo with the children.

A motorist, aware of the Amber Alert, spotted the white Lancer on Highway 162 driving east toward Covelo just after 1 p.m. The motorist called 9-1-1 and followed the Lancer into Covelo. The motorist stayed on the phone to the California Highway Patrol dispatcher, helping direct law enforcement resources to the area. This citizen”s actions directly lead to the safe recovery of the children, according to CHP reports.

Since 2002 the Amber Alert system has been activated 193 times resulting in the safe recovery of 229 children, says CHP.

This Amber Alert began in Willows. The two children”s mother Nancy Martinez, 29, of Covelo, contacted Willits police at 10:56 a.m. to report her children had been taken by Tuttle, her ex-boyfriend.

Martinez told police she and Tuttle had been living together in Covelo until about a week before the Amber Alert. She told police she took the children to Willows to stay with relatives. According to Martinez, Tuttle is not related to the children and is not a legal guardian. Tuttle came to Willows the night before the alleged abduction and attempted to reconcile but Martinez refused.

Tuttle was visiting with the children at 9:30 a.m. in the home Martinez was staying at. While Martinez was in the shower, Tuttle left with the children reportedly to buy them a gift at Walmart. When they did not return in over an hour, Martinez and her relatives went looking for them at the nearby Walmart and parks, before calling police. Police conducted a brief investigation and then issued a statewide alert.

After the motorist spotted Tuttle”s vehicle, a CHP helicopter from Redding and all available law enforcement officers began converging on Covelo.

Tuttle drove to his aunt”s home in Covelo and learned of the manhunt. He contacted police and turned himself in. The unharmed children were reunited with their mother.

Tuttle was taken to Glenn County Jail where he was booked for two counts of child stealing, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit a crime.

In a bizarre twist, Melissa Britton, 45, of Willows, who is also the children”s grandmother, was also arrested Friday night on the same counts.

Willows Police Chief Bill Spears told the media that Britton”s motive was financial gain. Spears said the grandmother wanted the children to leave so she could bring in paying babysitting clients.